Forty-five Democrats in the U.S. House want their colleagues who are drafting healthcare legislation to follow the example of Senate leaders, who have made public the policy options they’re considering for healthcare reform. The fiscally conservative members of the Blue Dog Coalition sent a letter to the three House committee chairmen drafting the bill, asking for an end to the secrecy and a more collaborative approach in creating the legislation. “We don’t need a select group of members of Congress or staff members writing this legislation,” Representative Mike Ross (D-Ark.) told The New York Times. “We want to help write it.” The moderate to conservative House Democrats say they support universal healthcare coverage, but they want input on controlling the cost of reform and want more details about the public health plan under consideration.
While members of the House praised the Senate Finance Committee’s open approach to debating healthcare reform, five people who support single-payer healthcare were arrested on Monday for staging a protest before the Senate Finance Committee. The protesters, who are members of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association, Physicians for a National Health Program, and Health Care Now, said that the Finance Committee invited America’s Health Insurance Plans to take part in a discussion on healthcare reform but excluded them.
